70 MISC. PUBLICATION 101, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
sprawling growth, open stand, and clustered leaf habit are conducive ~ 
to full utilization. Altogether, while distinctively secondary species, © 
they furnish considerable browse in certain semidesert localities. | 
Anderson peachbrush (Z’mplectocladus andersonii, syns. Amyg- — 
dalus andersonu, Prunus andersoniz), called also Anderson almond, — 
Neveda wild almond, and wild peach(brush), is probably the near- 
est of the peachbrush species to the cultivated peach. This is a 
thorny, spreading shrub 1 to 6 feet high, usually flowering and 
leafing from April to June. Anderson peachbrush occurs in eastern 
California and western Nevada, in coarse sandy, gravelly, or rocky 
soils, often over disintegrating granite, mainly between elevations 
of 5,000 and 6,500 feet, and frequently in canyons. As it is often 
abundant, has perhaps the largest leaves of its genus or group 
(except possibly the west-Texan /’. minutifiorus), and is usually ac- 
cessible, it is probably the most valuable range member of its al-— 
hance. AIl classes of livestock crop the foliage, which is largest 
and most available in the spring or afier rains in the latter part of 
the season. The species ranks as fair to good sheep and goat browse 
and only slightly inferior for cattle during the periods mentioned. 
Torrey wild almond (“. fasciculatus, syns. Prunus fasciculatus, 
Amygdalus fasciculatus), a species somewhat similar to Anderson 
peachbrush, and known also as (California) desert almond and 
desert plum, occurs in the region of Lower California, southern 
California, Arizona, and southern Utah. This is a bush, mostly 2 to 
4 (rarely 7 or 8) feet high, and is often encountered in canyons in the 
piion-juniper belt, growing among rocks. Its flowers and leaves ap- 
pear from March to May, and it furnishes a scant amount of proven- 
der for goatsandsheep. Itisoneofthe relatively few western shrubs 
that are dioecious, i. e., with distinct sexes, only the pistillate plants 
producing fruit. 2. fremontii (syns. P. fremontii, Amygdalus fre- 
monti) of the San Diego region, southern California, and northern 
Lower California, HE. glandulosus (syn. P. glandulosa) of Texas, 
and L'. minutifiorus (syn. P. minutiflora) of western Texas and 
Chihuahua, Mexico (the two last named diminutive bushes, only 1 
or 2 feet high), are similar species, furnishing a small amount of 
local goat and sheep forage. 
Osoberry (Osmaronia cerasiformis, syn. Nuttallia cerasiformis), 
often called Indian plum, is an ornamental shrub (4), or rarely a 
small tree, 2 to 15 feet high, with deciduous leaves 2 to 4 inches 
long having a peculiar, rather disagreeable odor when first appear- 
ing. Essentially a Pacific species, it ranges from British Columbia 
to California, mainly in the coastal region. 
The relationships of osoberry, its general appearance, and its 
large, delicate leaves create the impression that livestock would 
probably browse it; but information on its use is scant. It is re- 
ported as unpalatable to livestock (early in the season at least) in 
the Mount Hood region of northwestern Oregon. The species has 
a significance in wild-life control because of its fruits, in the quality 
and flavor of which there is apparently considerable variation. 
D. C. Ingram reports the fruit from the Umpqua National Forest 
region as sweet and palatable. Greene (46, p. 51), on the other 
hand, states that about San Francisco the fruit has a bitter taste 
but that it is eaten greedily by birds and mammals. 
